ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- If Rex Ryan got his way in the 2011 draft, J.J. Watt would have dropped all the way down to the New York Jets' pick at No. 30 -- with the help of a fake disease.

Watt revealed Ryan's master plan on a conference call with Buffalo-based reporters Wednesday in advance of the Houston Texans' trip this Sunday to Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"You do your meetings [at the combine] with all the teams, and you go around to every team," Watt said. "You never know where you're getting drafted. You don't know if you're a first-rounder, a second-rounder, whatever it is.

"I sat down there and he kind of real casually -- the whole thing was real casual -- and he just said, 'Hey, man, you're gonna be gone by the time we get to pick, so here's what we're gonna do: We're gonna put out a fake medical report that you have some sort of disease. I don't know what it is, whatever, we'll make it up. And you're gonna drop, but we'll pay you like you're up there [in the first round].

"So it was a funny little thing with Rex but something that I'll always remember about the combine. It was kind of a nice compliment to hear from an NFL coach when you're a college kid."

Watt, whom the Texans selected 11th overall, was flattered.

"I had no clue," he said. "You never truly know where you're gonna go in the draft process. But you hear a guy that's just been to the AFC Championship game say you're gonna be gone before you get to his pick, and thinks that highly of you that he wants you to be his pick, that was pretty cool."

Obviously, the genius plan was never put into place.

"It was never at any point serious," Watt said.